144 INSECTS AFFECTING VEGETATION 



Both these beetles pass the winter in the adult stage and are 

 ready to attack the asparagus shoots as soon as they appear above 

 ground in the spring; these they gnaw and spoil for table use, and 

 the Blue species deposits upon them its shiny black eggs which are 

 attached by the tip to the plants. Later on the eggs of both species 

 may be found upon the growing plants, and the larvaa soon appear. 

 Those of the Blue beetle are dark olive gray grubs, which feed 

 openly upon the foliage ; the grubs of the 12-spotted are yellowish or 

 somewhat orange in color, feeding at first upon the tender foliage, 

 but boring into and devouring the pulp of the seed capsules as soon 

 as they are large enough to attack. The life cycle of both kinds re- 

 quires only six or seven weeks for its completion and we therefore 

 find all through the season till sharp frosts come in the autumn, 

 eggs, larvae and beetles in great numbers at the same time; the pupal 

 stage is passed beneath the surface of the ground. 



The simplest and most efficient remedy is to let poultry have 

 the run of the beds ; they will devour both beetles and grubs and will 

 not touch the asparagus. 



Where this is not practicable, the young shoots should be dusted 

 with fresh air-slaked lime when the morning dew is on the plants; 

 this, of course, should be washed off before cooking. At the same 

 time some of the shoots may be allowed to grow and attract the 

 beetles which may then be killed with Paris green or arsenate of 

 lead. If the plants have many eggs upon them, they should be cut 

 off and burnt and others left to grow in their place. 



After the cutting season is over the plants should from time to 

 time be sprayed with one of the arsenical poisons, but when the seed 

 capsules are formed this will be of no avail against the grubs of the 

 12-spotted species. To get rid of it, the seed bearing plants should 

 be cut off and burnt. In early autumn it will be well to cut down 

 and burn the whole of the plants. 



The Asparagus Miner. The stalks of asparagus are fre- 

 quently attacked by insects, and in recent years have been reported 

 considerably injured by the larva or maggot of a minute black fly to 

 which the name asparagus miner has been given. The larva mines 

 beneath the epidermis of the stalk, and when it has transformed to 

 the puparium or "flaxseed' 7 stage the thin outer skin becomes more 

 or less ruptured and the presence of the insect is easily detected. It 

 operates more abundantly near the base of the stalks and penetrates 

 below the surface of the ground to a depth of 7 or 8 inches. 



The larva is about one-fifth of an inch long and milk-white in 

 color. Like other maggots, it is footless, large at the posterior ex- 

 tremity, and tapering toward the head. 



The puparium is not unlike the flaxseed of the pernicious Hes- 

 sian fly, with which it has been aptly compared. At a little dis- 

 tance, also, it suggests a Lecanium scale. This stage is remarkable 

 because of its peculiar flattened and curved position, as seen from 

 the side. It is red in color, and measures about 3.5 mm. in length 

 and about 1 mm. in width. The egg has not been observed. 



